"Begging Around the Christmas Tree"

Yoshi "the Original CleverPup" loves to beg in front of our Christmas tree.




















Yoshi can hold this position for a long time. Hopefully Santa will be bringing lots of cookies and doggie toys for Yoshi's stocking this year!

The 2006 Outdoor Lighting Extravaganza

Behold the wonder of twinkling merriment as Cleverpup Studio puts on a very festive display for the Holidays!

Yes, 'tis the season for lights and displays of good will towards men. Just DON'T OFFEND ANYONE WITH ONE OF THOSE DAMN CHRISTMAS TREES!

And you wonder why "The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America" ranks Seattle among the 50 most awful places to live in the country.


Hey, I know ....I know.

November Rain Record for Seattle

Well, with a little help from Mother nature, November went out with a bang. We set the record for the all time wettest month ever, with a whopping 15.63 inches of rain by Thursday morning. The old record was 15.33 set in December 1933.
I think this place is a little too damp for me, some where nice and dry is appealing right now, say maybe like the Arizona Dessert!

Here we go Again!

Oh what fun, it is to ride, in a two wheel drive Frozen Sleigh!

More snow or icy rain?, heck lets go for the rainfall record too while we are at it!

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH

THURSDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM

WATCH FOR MOST OF WESTERN WASHINGTON...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM

WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. THE WATCH INCLUDES THE

URBAN CORRIDOR FROM CHEHALIS NORTH THROUGH THE SEATTLE METRO

AREA...EVERETT...AND BELLINGHAM.

First the Rain, then the Snow, and now the Ice

Yesterday the greater Seattle area got walloped by a snow squall that moved through during the evening commute. Here at Cleverpup Studios we picked up an additional 2 inches of snow as it came down fast and heavy for an hour. Ian went outside for 10 minutes with his friends and came back in covered with snow. We stayed warm and cozy inside as the snow turned our neighborhood into a real winter wonderland.

The rest of Seattle didnt fare as well...The storm turned the main freeways into a icy skating rink and the people who were downtown at the Seahawks/ Greenbay Packers game (Seattle won!) found an icy gridlock on the way home.

Heres some of the more frigid stories gleamed from the local news:

SEATTLE - After a day of snow and a miserable Monday evening commute, Tuesday is already much worse. In fact for some, the Tuesday morning commute was an extension of a futile attempt to finish the Monday evening commute, and the State Patrol is advising everyone in the region to just stay off the roads.

More than 350,000 students in the central Puget Sound area alone got snow holidays Tuesday, including roughly 76,000 in Seattle and Tacoma, following traffic nightmares for tens of thousands of commuters Monday evening. In schools that were open, classes were delayed for tens of thousands of students.

Snow and slush that fell yesterday has frozen on many roads throughout the Puget Sound area as temperatures plummeted into the teens and 20s overnight, and dozens of spinouts and crashes overnight kept troopers and transportation crews very busy.

Transportation officials said many of the people on the roads early Tuesday were those who had been trying to get home since Monday night. Many of those stranded were those trying to get home from the Seattle Seahawks game that ended around 9:30. With traffic at nearly a standstill in many areas some commuters reported being on the road for nearly eight hours. DOT cameras showing freeways at 2 a.m. looked jammed just like what they typically would show at 5 p.m.

Parking lots near major interstates were full of people who couldn't make it home Monday night and decided to get off the roads and sleep in their cars.

Dozens of tractor-trailer rigs were off Interstate 5 Tuesday morning on a hill beside the Southcenter shopping mall south of Seattle.

Police and towtruck operators couldn't keep up with cars sliding off Interstate 405 Monday evening in the suburbs east of Lake Washington.

"It's unbelievable. It's like I'm driving in Alaska out here," said Trooper Jeff Merrill of the Washington State Patrol, from directing drivers near I-405 and State Route 527 in Bothell.

Temperatures dropped as low as 25 in Seattle, 20 in Everett, and into the low teens in Whatcom and Skagit County. And temperatures Tuesday night were expected to be another 2-6 degrees colder as more arctic air pours into the region.

Meanwhile, the snow and ice in the Puget Sound area have left thousands of utility customers without electricity.


Stay home...I think thats a very good idea!

Snowy November

Yesterday we had 3 inches of snow, we were lucky as most areas north of us got between six and seventeen inches of snow! Right now it is snowing hard and the temperature is dropping into the low 20s tonight as a blast of arctic air comes our way. My little resident Anna's Hummingbird is still hanging around the humming bird feed and I took her portrait as she waited in a snow covered tree for me to leave the area. I brought my feeder in tonight as I don't want the water to freeze solid overnight. The little hummer will need all the food it can get in this frigid weather just to keep warm!

Looks like our snow will stick around for a few days as the highs are only going to get to freezing.


Brrrrrrr!

Too Much Turkey!

Well, Thanksgiving was a success!

Plenty of good food and drink and family, Yoshi, the original Clever Pup, had a big plate of tender Turkey and gravy and zonked out on the floor with everyone else. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

"As God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly"

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid!

CLEVELAND - Ralphie Parker and Brian Jones know what it's like to want something.

For Ralphie, the object of desire was an official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. (Go ahead, say it, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid.") For Jones, the gotta-have-it item was Ralphie's house the one in "A Christmas Story," the quirky film that's found a niche alongside holiday classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."

Jones has restored the three-story, wood-frame house to its appearance in the movie and will open it for tours beginning Saturday. His hope is that it will become a tourist stop alongside the city's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and other destinations.

He's unsure whether he'll make enough money to cover his $500,000 investment, but as sure as a kid's tongue will stick to a frozen flag pole, he's committed to the project.

"I just want people to come and enjoy it as I have," said Jones, a 30-year-old former Navy lieutenant.

"A Christmas Story" wasn't a big hit when released in 1983 but repeat TV airings and, in recent years, a 24-hour run on TBS starting Christmas Eve have made its story of boy's quest to get a BB gun for Christmas as infectious as the bespectacled Ralphie's eager grin.

"It just kind of sets the mood. In the Jones household, it's on all day once the marathon comes on," said Jones, who's married with an 8-month-old daughter.

Jones first saw the movie in the late 1980s and he and his parents became fans.

When the San Diego resident's dream of a becoming a Navy pilot like his father was denied because of his eyesight, his parents sent him a package to lift his spirits. Marked "FRAGILE" on the outside, it contained a leg lamp his parents built to look just like the one received by Ralphie's father, who proudly displayed it in the living room window, boasting, "It's a major award!"

Jones' mom noted that he could probably make a business out of selling them. In 2003, he started doing just that.

"I tooled together 500 lamps in my 1,000-square-foot condo in San Diego and sold them all in the first year," Jones said.

And he's still making and selling them $129.99 for the 45-inch model, $159.99 for the 53-inch "deluxe full size" leg lamp.

When the house from the film was put up for sale on eBay in December 2004, it seemed like destiny to Jones.

"I said, `Ooh, I gotta have that.'"

The auction price got up to $115,000. Jones, who shares Ralphie's unflinching enthusiasm, less than 20/20 eyesight and ability to speak at a breakneck pace, said he'd pay $150,000 if the owner stopped the bidding.

"It was mine. I sent him a deposit and flew out two days after Christmas just to make sure it wasn't a falling-down shack," Jones said.

He put in new windows and replaced the 111-year-old house's gray aluminum siding with mustard yellow painted wood and green trim that perfectly matches Ralphie's house.

Although only a couple interior shots were filmed there, Jones has recreated the '40s feel of Ralphie's home with a brown-and-white tile kitchen floor, a wide cast-iron sink in the kitchen, a claw-foot bathtub and, of course, a leg lamp in the window.

He also bought the house across the street Ralphie runs past it in the film's opening scene-to serve as a museum and gift shop. Several original items from the film are on display, including the infamous snowsuit ("I can't put my arms down!") worn by Ralphie's brother, Randy.

The house is located in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, just a few minutes from downtown where the exterior department store shots were filmed at the former Higbee's.

The cooperation of the department store is what brought the filmmakers to Cleveland for the film based on author Jean Shepherd's stories of his upbringing in Hammond, Ind.

The house is well known in the neighborhood and neighbors like Marlene Childers have watched the house change owners and go through ups and downs over the years. She's excited about Jones' tribute "I love that story," she said.

Jones knows the feeling. And he says stepping onto Ralphie's old street makes him feel like he's in the movie.

Standing in front of the house holding a replica Red Ryder rifle, he discusses his future plans which could include a nearby bed and breakfast -when, seemingly on a director's cue, a motorist passes, stops his car, rolls down the window and shouts, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

Turkey Fun

Happy Thanksgiving

On the Menu

Brined Roast Turkey 15.5 pounds

Cornbread Dressing

Fresh Cranberry Sauce from Whole Berries

Homemade Biscuits

Yams and Brown Sugar

Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Pan Dripping Gravy

Green Salad

Pumpkin Pie

Cherry Pie

Happy Turkey Day!

Rain Record Broken

We broke our rainfall record today with a bang.

Excuse me while I go bail out the living room.

Nutty Buddy

Click on photo for larger version!
This is the little squirrel we tamed with peanuts. He has gotten so tame he will come inside the house through our sliding patio door and take a peanut from your hand! He will run back out the door and hide the peanut for later and then come right back with his face pressed against the glass looking for more!


With all the rain and wind we have had this month its surprising he hasn't grown webbed feet!

Soggy Doggy Bloggie

Looks like Washington set a new record last night, the wettest November EVER with 11.63" of rain. We still have half a month left and a fighting chance to take out the big Kahuna, Seattle's all time wettest month of 12.92" of rain set in January of 1953.

Lucky for us, we didn't have any problems with the high winds that other parts of the state had.

Some top gusts yesterday:

• Tatoosh Island: 91 mph
• Clallam Bay: 87 mph
• Sekiu: 77 mph
• Clallam Bay: 70 mph
• Sequim: 70 mph
• Hoquiam: 68 mph
• Bangor Sub Base: 66 mph
• Anacortes: 65 mph
• Mount Vernon: 65 mph
• Oak Harbor: 66 mph
• Forks: 62 mph
• Bellingham: 63 mph
• Vail (Thurston Co.): 60 mph
• Friday Harbor: 59 mph
• Brinnon: 55 mph
• Tacoma: 53 mph
• Everson: 53 mph
• Port Angeles: 52 mph
• Olympia: 46 mph
• Everett: 45 mph
• Seattle: 41 mph

Time to batten down the hatches and hunker down as the next storm comes in Sunday.

Floating away in Washington State

Yes, we are soaked here. Monday was the third wettest day in our weather history. So far today its been raining steady and theres a half inch of rain in the rain gauge. Theres one thing you can count on, the ducks are happy.

for more weather woes in WA, click here.

UPDATE: Well, the heavy rains are gone or at least down to a drizzle. Im seeing .63 inches in the rain gauge so far today (4:30pm) Seattle received over 8" of rain since November 1st -- almost 125% of our monthly normal barely the first week into the month. Put another way -- that's roughly 22% of our annual total. Even more impressive, Shelton had over a foot of rain. A FOOT!

New Blog

Ben has started his own blog , GarrisonGraphics , go over and check it out. I hear he's pretty talented.

Snowy October Days

What a difference a day makes! Ohio weather at its finest, one day sunny and beautiful with the fall
colors in full radiance and then oops, add six inches of snow and enjoy!
















photos copyright 2006 Dolores Norton

"Metro-WA?"

The worst slogan EVER!!!

They spend 200K and come up with this? Metronatural? Sounds too much like metro-sexual to me . The state slogan they came up with was "Say WA" get it?? Hey pay me 200K and I'll come up with something much better!

New slogan for Seattle publicity: 'metronatural'

October 20, 2006

By Associated Press

SEATTLE - Metronatural.

That's the new tagline for an advertising campaign by the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The bureau says the "brand concept was designed to highlight Seattle's rare and uniquely marketable combination of urban and outdoor experiences."

The slogan was developed over a year at a cost of $200,000.

The bureau says it expects its 1,000 member businesses to incorporate "metronatural" into their advertising, Web sites, brochures and public relations.

The bureau says Seattle had more than 9 million visitors last year, and the bureau hopes to attract more conventions, cruise ship visitors and other travelers.

Ohio Fall Color Photoblog

There's nothing more lovely then fall colors in October. Special thanks to mom for sending these photos taken at the Holden Arbouremun in Geauga County Ohio.
















Sunlight and Trees
photo copyright Dolores Norton 2006















Fall Road
photo copyright Dolores Norton 2006















Across the Waterlillies
photo copyright Dolores Norton 2006















Red Road
photo copyright Dolores Norton 2006

Halloween Fun

More Halloween ACEOs on Ebay!